This order is in addition to FedEx Express' agreement with Boeing announced in December 2011 to buy 27 new 767s for delivery between fiscal 2014 and 2018 and to delay delivery of 11 of the 777 aircraft to save on fuel and cut costs.

The company said on June 19 it was focused on cost cuts to boost profit margins during a prolonged period of slow global economic growth.

The latest purchase announced on Friday is for planes that will be delivered from fiscal 2015 to 2019 and will replace current MD-10 and A310-200 aircraft, FedEx said.

The new planes provide similar capacity as the MD-10s, but are about 30 percent more fuel-efficient and reduce unit operating costs by more than 20 percent, the company said.

FedEx said the 19 new aircraft on order include four that used money previously applied to orders for four 777 aircraft. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"FedEx Express is positioning itself for more profitable growth by modernising its aircraft fleet and better aligning its US domestic air network to match current and anticipated shipment volumes," FedEx Express chief executive David Bronczek said in a statement.

Earlier this month, FedEx said it was permanently retiring various aircraft and engines, bringing the total to 50 aircraft being retired by the end of fiscal 2013.

FedEx has estimated its capital spending at USD$3.9 billion in fiscal 2013, and said on Friday the impact of the new aircraft order "is immaterial" to capital spending in fiscal 2013 and 2014.

FedEx Express now operates 19 long-range 777 freighters and said it is now committed to buying an additional 24 of them.

An unusual sight at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on Friday June 29, 2012 as Southwest Airlines operated a Department of Defense (DOD) charter flight from the airport. I'm sure it was a shock to some (jetBlue employees) seeing the carriers "Canyon Blue" livery taxi to and park on pad six at the historical terminal as it arrived from Sacremento (SMF/KSMF) at 14:28 pst as "SWA8620."

Southwest Airlines 737-7H4 (33829/1519) N465WN rolling for take-off at 15:12 pst on Rwy 30 destined for Yakima Air Terminal (YKM/KYKM) in Southern Washington State as "SWA7124."

U.S. Marine Corps Bell UH-1Y Venom (c/n 450) 167798 / SN-02 of HMLA-169 "Vipers" made a high speed fly-by down Rwy 30 at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) this afternoon, it was very cool to say the least!

The wreckage of a military plane found this month on an Alaska glacier is that of an Air Force plane that crashed in 1952, killing all 52 people aboard, military officials said Wednesday.Army Capt. Jamie Dobson said evidence found at the crash site correlates with the missing C-124A Globemaster, but the military is not eliminating other possibilities because much investigation still needs to be done.Processing DNA samples from relatives of those on board the plane could take up to six years, Dobson said."We're still at the very beginning of this investigation," she said. "This is very close to the starting line, not the finish line."The Alaska National Guard discovered the wreckage and possibly bones June 10 on Colony Glacier, about 40 miles east of Anchorage. The wreckage was spotted soon after the heavy transport plane vanished Nov. 22, 1952, with 41 passengers and 11 crew members, but it became buried in snow and likely churned beneath the surface of the glacier for decades, Dobson said."The ice gives up what it wants to give up when it wants to give it up," she said. "It's really in control."The plane went down on a flight from McChord Air Force Base in Washington state.An Associated Press report on Nov. 24, 1952, said the Globemaster was the third big Air Force transport plane to crash or vanish in Alaska that month and the sixth around the Pacific Rim.Soon after the crash, a 12-member military team tried three times to make it to the site, but was thwarted by bad weather, said Tonja Anderson, whose grandfather Isaac Anderson was among those on board the doomed flight. The 41-year-old Tampa, Fla., woman has researched the crash for 12 years since her grandmother, now deceased, gave her details of the airman who died at age 21, leaving behind a young widow and 1 ½-year-old son."I'm overwhelmed," Anderson said Wednesday about the positive identification. It's something she has tried to long get from the military, she said, only to be told that recovering the remains from the plane's hidden grave was unfeasible and would be too expensive."If they can bring me one bone of my grandfather or his dog tag, that would be closure for me," she said.Days after the Globemaster went down, a member of the Fairbanks Civil Air Patrol, along with a member of the 10th Air Rescue Squadron, landed at a glacier in the area and positively identified the wreckage as the Globemaster.According to an AP account, the civil air patrol member was Terris Moore, who was president of the University of Alaska. After returning from the site, he told reporters that the plane "obviously was flying at full speed" when it hit Mount Gannett, sliding down the snow-covered cliffs, exploding and disintegrating over two or three acres.Only the tail and flippers of the craft were intact, but the tail numbers were enough for an identification. Moore said blood was found on a piece of blanket and there was a "sickly-sweet smell of death."The debris was discovered June 14 while Alaska National Guardsmen were flying a Blackhawk helicopter during a training mission near the glacier. The guardsmen flew over the area several times.

Federal aviation officials implemented temporary flight restrictions over the area while the military investigation was conducted.

An eight-man Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command arrived last week, military officials said. It completed its work Tuesday at the glacier.The team recovered materials like a life-support system from the wreckage and possible bones from the glacier. The evidence was being taken to the command's lab in Hawaii for analysis.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) president and CEO Jim Albaugh has announced he will retire after 37 years with the company, including the last two-and-a-half years as chief of Boeing’s commercial unit, on Oct. 1. Raymond Conner, BCA senior VP-sales and customer support, will replace him.

Boeing chairman, president and CEO Jim McNerney said Albaugh has “helped ensure the certification and successful entry into service of the 787 Dreamliner and 747-8, and the launch of the 737 MAX.” Albaugh took the helm of BCA from Scott Carson at the start of 2010 with the 787 program in the midst of recurring delays.

Albaugh began his career with Rockwell's aerospace and defense businesses, which Boeing acquired in 1996.

Conner joined Boeing in 1977 as a mechanic on the 727 program and has been with the company for 34 years. “He has built airplanes, sold airplanes, serviced airplanes, managed our largest programs, knows our customers extremely well, and is respected by our employees,” said McNerney. “He is the natural next leader.”

Conner has held a number of positions with Boeing, including VP supply chain management and operations, VP and general manager of the 777 and 747 programs and sales VP for the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions.

Pilots' union leaders at American Airlines reached a tentative agreement with management on Wednesday on a cost-cutting contract aimed at heading off a threat by the carrier to abandon the current deal in bankruptcy and impose stricter terms.

The Allied Pilots Association board voted 9 to 7 to send the last and best offer to its membership for consideration, the union and the company said.

A vote by members is expected in coming weeks, prompting the judge overseeing American's case in New York to postpone a ruling that had been scheduled for Friday on whether to allow the airline to abrogate the pilots' contract, the airline said.

Ratification by pilots would end years of bitter negotiations and introduce a measure of stability to American's bankruptcy.

The airline is seeking more than USD$1.2 billion in cost cuts from its unions annually, a key factor in its decision to seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors last November.

The added certainty would allow the parties to shift focus to American's planned emergence later this year and whether it will do so alone or as part of a merger.

The six-year deal was revisited over the past several days after union board members rejected a previous proposal from American's parent, AMR.

Details of the tentative deal were not released. But proposed terms disclosed over the past few days included USD$315 million in annual cost savings - down from USD$370 million - no layoffs, annual pay increases, and a stake in the new company.

The union representing 10,000 pilots had no immediate comment beyond confirming the deal and the board's vote.

American said it believed pilots would carefully consider the proposal, which would be a watershed in the company's restructuring if it is approved.

"We believe this agreement addresses the needs of our pilots while achieving the goals of our business plan, and further demonstrates our commitment to reaching consensual agreements with all of our unions," American said in a statement.

A final agreement by pilots, the most powerful work group, is likely to clear the way for American's flight attendants and mechanics also to reach new contracts. The airline said it would meet those unions next week.

AMR is under pressure from unions to tie up with US Airways. American has said it would explore consolidation but prefers to exit bankruptcy as a standalone company.

US Airways struck a merger deal with America West in 2005 while still in bankruptcy, but the deal was necessary for its immediate survival.

American's case appears more along the lines of Delta Air Lines and Northwest. The two emerged from their bankruptcies with similar cost structures and then formed a partnership.

American's motion in bankruptcy court to vacate contracts follows a similar pattern by other US airlines that took the bankruptcy route.

Even in cases where carriers won court permission to throw out collective bargaining agreements, they wound up reaching consensual deals with those unions before exiting bankruptcy.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Airbus is seriously studying the possibility of opening an assembly line in the United States, marking a direct challenge to Boeing in its home market as competition heats up in the global jet market, people familiar with the matter said.

The plan calls for the possible production of A320 narrow body jets, Airbus's best-selling model, most probably in Mobile, Alabama, where EADS had planned to assemble US tanker aircraft in a Pentagon contest it lost to Boeing last year.

Airbus and its Franco-German parent company EADS have said for some months that they were studying reshaping the plan to establish a foothold in commercial aircraft production in the world's largest single passenger-jet market.

One of the sources did not rule out an imminent announcement. But an Airbus spokesman said the company had not yet completed its studies.

"No decision has been taken," Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said, declining further comment.Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier was quoted in a Spanish newspaper on Wednesday as saying the plane maker was actively looking at a possible new assembly plant.

"This is part of the brainstorming we are doing regarding our international development," El Economista quoted him saying.

Setting up in the United States would boost Airbus's presence in the key US market as it enters a phase of fleet renewal, and would reduce currency risk by increasing its exposure to costs in dollars, the currency in which aircraft are sold.

It would be the second Airbus assembly plant outside Europe. None of the sources agreed to speak publicly on the matter because decisions have not yet been made.

Airbus is currently the world's largest producer of passenger jets ahead of Boeing. It assembles in Toulouse, France, the German port city of Hamburg and, since 2009, in Tianjin outside Beijing, China. Airbus said earlier this month it had started talks to extend the Tianjin venture beyond 2016.When EADS lost the tanker contest to Boeing, analysts said the long, politically charged competition had focused industry attention on Alabama and fostered a belief that this could lead to future projects.

The original tanker proposal included a kernel of commercial production in Alabama with plans to assemble commercial freighters alongside the US Air Force tanker planes.But the new proposal would spread its reach to passenger jets, a much larger market in which Airbus and Boeing compete fiercely for the lion's share of a global jet market estimated at USD$100 billion a year.

Alabama and the US South have made strides in recent years in gaining aerospace and other manufacturing work. Aerospace and military industry employment in Alabama rose 13 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to a study by the Alabama Aerospace Industry Association. High-tech space jobs are concentrated around Huntsville, with Boeing and Lockheed Martin as major employers.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Rolls-out on Rwy 30 with the historical Long Beach Airport Terminal in the distance.

Still rolling on Rwy 30, very quickly I might add.

Tapping the breaks again........she was still moving at a very high rate of speed at this point and the airport folks that I was with including myself began to think at this point that she might over-run the Rwy but thankfully she did not.

The powerfull aft-end of Rockwell B-1B "Lancer" (c/n 69) 86-0109.

(Photos by Michael Carter)

Thanks to Mario and Eric at the LGB Noise office for making these photos possible.﻿

G450 (c/n 4206) N236LP which is operated by Crest Aviation II LLC, is caught on the Signature ramp at John Wayne Orange County Airport (SNA/KSNA) on June 25, 2012.

This gorgeous Global Express (c/n 9059) N3PC operated by Trinity Broadcasting of Florida Inc. is seen resting in the SoCal afternoon sun at John Wayne Orange County Airport (SNA/KSNA) on June 25, 2012.

Southwest Airlines 737-7H4 (36646/2933) N939WN which sports special "Kidds Kids" titles, taxis to Rwy 19R at John Wayne Orange County Airport (SNA/KSNA) bound for Denver (DEN/KDEN) as "SWA2446" on June 25, 2012.

On the flight deck of the above aircraft were a father/son crew, Captain Clarke Peele (left) and FO Justin Peele. I have been with Southwest Airlines for nearly 17 years and this was the first time that I have run into a father/son flight deck crew...............really cool and it was very nice to meet you both!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

I found this is the Orange County Register this morning and thought some of you might find this interesting.........Michael

As the Boeing 737 banked slowly over Old Towne Orange, I looked down and picked out my house amid the quadrants of the onetime farm town swallowed up by suburbia. The airliner leveled out and lined up with the southbound traffic on the 55 Freeway, descending over the afternoon rush-hour traffic to touch down on a runway flanked by a tarmac filled with rows of Cessnas and corporate jets. It's an arrival experience I've been through hundreds of times. Then seven short words made it something very new. "Welcome to the United States of America," a flight attendant said over the intercom.

Airport being prepared for it's first flight to Mexico City. AirTran flight 1646 is parked at gate 14 at John Wayne. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz)

I was aboard AirTran Flight 30, part of the newly inaugurated air service to Mexico that has brought John Wayne Airport into the international age. I'd flown to Cabo San Lucas on the inaugural flight. After five days by the Sea of Cortez, I was returning as part of the first week of international arrivals to Orange County.

The twin-engine airliner pulled up to a gate at Terminal C and the passengers grabbed their carry-ons and began the conga line down the aisle to the exit. But instead of popping out amid the newsstands, sports bars, Carl's Jr. and Starbucks surrounding the gates, our group of about 75 was directed down a flight of stairs to the lower level of the terminal. Five Customs and Border Protection agents waited there in glass-enclosed kiosks of the kind normally seen at places like LAX and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

At large airports in big cities, this is a source of much dread. After a long flight, there is one more gantlet to run: the slow shuffle-wait-shuffle-wait lines leading up to the passport checkpoints.

The combination of tension and tedium usually drains whatever relaxation was left after the long airplane ride. Most often, passengers from a number of arriving international flights are funneled together into a snaking line. You might be coming in from Cabo, but if you end up behind a 747 full of folks coming from Thailand or South America or the Middle East, be prepared to have the process slow to a crawl. At its worst, the lines can feel longer than the flight home.

But at John Wayne Airport, it was different. The group of arriving passengers was divided into types – foreign visitors, noncitizen residents, U.S. citizens and flight crew. When it was my turn to step up, I presented my blue-covered U.S. passport. "Was your trip for business or pleasure?"

That's always a tricky one since the honest answer is my business is pleasure travel."A little of both," I said. "Mostly business."The agent glanced at some of the stamps in my passport – London, Paris, Tokyo – then handed it back. "Welcome home."The luggage was already on the small carousel just beyond the checkpoint, but since I had kept my garb to a single carry-on rolling bag, I headed on to the customs desk, where I presented my form to the agent and was waved through. Down a dog-legged corridor and out to the bottom floor of John Wayne Airport. I stepped out into the warm, dry afternoon air and headed for the taxi stand.Total time from exiting the airplane to exiting the airport terminal: About nine minutes.For now, the passport and customs checkpoint at John Wayne Airport handles just two flights a day – one from Mexico City and another from Cabo San Lucas. Airport officials say there is room for one more international flight, but so far there are no takers, despite a $300,000 break on airport rent if an airline flies to a destination that's not already offered. Because of the short runway and the limited size of aircraft, that pretty much means another Mexico flight (Cancun? Loreto? Mazatlan?). Canada flights don't count – passengers of the WestJet flights from Vancouver and Calgary go through immigration formalities while still in Canada and disembark as if the flight were coming in from a U.S. destination.The northbound Mexico traffic on AirTran has been somewhat light as the service ramps up, but flights likely will run full by the time school summer vacations roll around.In contrast, Los Angeles International Airport last year handled a little more than 8 million passengers who had to travel through customs checkpoints. In December 2011, the number was 1.34 million. Divide that by 30 days and you are looking at 44,000 a day. Let's say John Wayne Airport has two flights a day from Mexico and they come in full – 137 passengers on each flight. Multiplied by 365 days a year and you have just over 100,000 passengers.Those numbers mean that comparing LAX and JWA's foreign-arrivals experience is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. But for now, I'll take the orange any day.

Hundreds of air passengers and staff were evacuated from a terminal at New York City's Kennedy Airport after a metal detector malfunctioned at one of the security checkpoints.

The Transportation Security Administration says it closed Kennedy's Terminal 7 for about two hours Saturday morning after discovering the equipment problem and realizing that people had been let through without being properly screened.

Procedures call for the entire terminal to be emptied and the passengers re-checked whenever that happens.

Some travelers have posted photographs on Twitter showing the terminal lobby jammed with people waiting to get back in.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says the screening checkpoints were reopened to passengers by 11:45 a.m.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Air France (AF) has called for a 20% cut in costs and a reduction of more than 5,100 jobs by December 2013 as part of its Transform 2015 strategic plan to restore profitability.

AF said it hoped the job reductions could be achieved without compulsory redundancies, but the option remains open if staff do not agree to voluntary measures, including incentives for early retirement or voluntary redundancy, moves to part-time work, or job-shares. The aim is to reduce headcount to 49,301 in a two-year period that began in December 2011. Attrition during the period is estimated at 1,712 personnel, leaving a further 3,410 to depart, including 450 pilots and 904 cabin crew.

“Air France is facing a fundamental choice about its future,” said AF chairman and CEO Alexandre de Juniac, announcing the strategy plan. “If we all make the necessary equitably distributed efforts, there will be no forced departures.”

Other points in the plan include restructuring short- and medium-haul operations around three poles – AF mainline, a new regional hub and LCC subsidiary Transavia France (TO); combining operations of its three regional subsidiaries – Brit Air, Airlinair and Regional – at this new hub; developing TO to attract the leisure market, with new routes in 2013 from Orly, Lille, Lyon and Nantes; improving long-haul operations by investing several hundred million euros in new onboard facilities; and accelerating cost reduction in the cargo division.

Southwest Airlines 737-8H4 (38874/4050) N8601C is captured on short final to Rwy 19R at John Wayne Orange County Airport (SNA/KSNA) on June 20, 2012 as it arrives from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX/KPHX).